Georgia lottery executive named to head N.M. lottery

Tuesday, Feb. 29, 2000 | 12:24 p.m.

Shaheen, 46, will take over on March 20.

Until recently, he had been the executive vice president of operations and administration at the Georgia Lottery Corp. He graduated in 1975 from Wayne State University with a degree in business administration.

He began his 13-year career in lotteries as sales representative with the Florida Lottery, and eventually was promoted to district manager. He later joined the Texas Lottery as a field service supervisor and rose to marking operations assistant manager before joining the Georgia Lottery Corp. nearly seven years ago.

The New Mexico Legislature patterned the state lottery in part after the Georgia operation. Both are quasi-public corporations rather than government agencies and both have public education as the sole beneficiaries.

Miller resigned as the lottery's chief last September. Miller gave no reason for leaving, saying only that he was exploring business opportunities. The lottery named Gary D. Bratcher as interim director last October and launched a search for a permanent replacement.

The New Mexico Lottery, which began in April 1996, has turned over nearly $78 million to the state through this month. Sixty percent of the proceeds, $45.4 million, have been earmarked for capital outlays for public schools, while the remaining 40 percent, more than $32.5 million, has gone for scholarships for New Mexico high school graduates entering universities in the state.

The lottery said more than 13,000 students have attended college on lottery scholarships since the program began.